I spent the last few days going big... I don't know if it was my frustration with the DSDF challenge or this lousy cold I was fighting, but I needed a change. So I took some of my game pieces and painted them huge (for me)! This painting is 24"x 48". I LOVED it! I think I'll paint larger for a little bit!

Happy birthday to me! :) I sure wish I felt better!! I'm fighting some nasty bug, but I think I'm finally winning!! Lots of vitamin C and getting back in the studio helped!! Stumbled upon the Virtual Sketch Date today. I painted the image even though I'm a day late... and usually a dollar short.. :/ ...I sent my image in anyway... I hope to do it each month... always fun to see how many people interpret the same image!!

Ever have one of those days? ...or couple of days... where nothing seems to go right? I know that they are often balanced by good days.. BUT.. today the good days seem far away! I spent yesterday TOTALLY overworking Karin Juricks current challenge of an old San Fransisco Victorian... wiped it off twice! Changed format and painted it much smaller today ... 3 1/2" x 5".. like it a bit better but don't love it. Also thought maybe I'd work in a more limited pallete for a while and see if that helps loosen things up a bit. Here's the second painting...

This is a little painting (4"x4") I did this morning. I didn't have long to paint because I was getting ready for our first artists pot luck and critique! My friends Carl, Heidi and Laura(http://bolophotoinc.com/), organized it and it was wonderful! We had great food, artist's fellowship, ideas and critiques... what we all need but don't get enough of! I'm looking forward to the next one!

Just a little Hershey's Cheesecake kiss for the Treasure Series. My son Ty's favorite!

I painted all day today to keep from worrying about my oldest who was on a big adventure in Washington D.C.! As promised, General Sherman's horse! 16"x 20" This was large for me and I was happy to have kept it very loose. And a treasure painting too! A small cast iron German Shepard .... may have been my moms... once upon a time. Now he keeps an eye on me from my corner cupboard in the studio 4"x4"

Back to images from New York today! This is the statue of Victory, part of the William Tecumseh Sherman monument at the edge of Central Park. She is so magnificent! She stands in front of Sherman on his horse. I may doing a painting of the horse one of these days too... 12"x12"

More chocolate...

This morning I felt the need to work smaller again. I think I get overwhelmed with everything that is happening in the scenes and tend to totally overwork them. So back to my happy place today... painting little treasures.. This is from a box of truffles that I bought for my husbands' Christmas stocking but I told him that he couldn't eat them all until I had a chance to paint one... :) He can eat the last one now!

Yesterday and today I worked on painting scenes from my trip to New York. The first was a woman at the MOMA (6"x6") and the second a gentleman having breakfast at the Odessa Cafe (8"x10").

I am really intrigued by night paintings and would like to explore more.. Here are two in response to Karin Juricks bi-weekly challenge on Different Strokes from Different Strokes.

Yesterday was spent doing two of my least favorite things... taking my daughter to the airport and taking down the Christmas tree :( ...and this morning I cleaned the house! So I didn't get to the studio until late today and painted another one for my Treasure Series... called Stacked.

Tomorrow I am hoping to work on my painting for the Different Strokes challenge.

Two more for the Treasures Series... I used to go to a lot of auctions and buy things for collages/assemblages.... but these things start to pile up... so I stopped going... I have a box of old skeleton keys and locks.. this is one ...

and this little Kewpie sits in the corner cupboard in my studio and keeps an eye on things..

Today I did the first painting for a series of small works I've been thinking about. I'm calling it the "Treasures Series". I have hundreds, if not thousands of "treasures", small bits and pieces, mostly vintage stuff that I have collected to use in a collage or just because I like something about it.. Most of them are tucked away in the studio, saved for someday because I don't know what else to do with them. So I decided to start doing small paintings of these treasures.... maybe a way to preserve the memory and then let these items go to a new home... maybe. Anyway.. here is my first treasure painting... the Monopoly game shoe and a red die... 4" x 4" oil on board

I went floral yesterday... I needed a little summer after this cold streak we had!

So there I was.. cleaning the studio, getting ready for the new year... and I couldn't help myself... I had to paint something. This little carved wooden bird was sitting on my window sill demanding attention... so I set him on my easel and went to work.. he is happy.. I am happy.. it's all good! :)

My New Year's resolutions are to live, love, laugh and paint more!! And I wish the same for all of you! Happy New Year!

Two paintings from my trip to New York. My daughter is home for the holiday break and had a hard time sleeping the first night because it was too dark here. It never really gets dark in New York... I thought about that when I was painting these.. It's funny the things you get used to... These are Grand Central Station and Central Park.

Today I finished my portrait for the Different strokes from Different Folks challenge... We were given a photo of another artist to paint and they were given ours. This one was a tough one for me! I went back and forth between trying to get a likeness of someone I'd never met and just painting until I liked it. It was also hard to find a big enough block of time this past week to really bang it out all at once (which I MUCH prefer) and as a result I spent sporadic time at it when I could which frustrated me.. Having said all that, I am fairly happy with it finally and I hope the person I painted likes it!!

I have also uploaded a few of the paintings I had done before the Christmas rush overtook me!

Today was pretty close to perfect ... I had lunch with my husband, and I painted the rest of the day! Now if we were only in a sunny little bungalow on the beach... instead of 15 degree cold, dreary Ohio!! But is was so fun and I got three paintings done so I won't complain! I did a couple of landscapes (with pretty blue skies!) then did a painting of a caramel that my son Ty bought for me at our friends shop. (www.enjoygourmetgifts.com)

Tis the season... so much to do and so little time!! Haven't posted much this week but wanted to show the painting I'm working on. It's a large picture (36"x 48") of the underside of a train... It isn't finished but I didn't want you to think I'm slacking!

This is our yorkie, Bruce. Bruce Almighty to be exact. Yeah, our daughter picked the name. :) I took this photo a couple of months ago and just came across it today. He loves to sit by the front door in the sun. this is before his new haircut! I painted this this morning and then started on a very large painting of a train. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow... hopefully!

We spent three days and nights wandering the city and I loved every minute of it.. but I definitely needed a day to recover! I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted because it was so cold and overcast but I did get a few and will sort them out this week. Today I painted a commission for 4 small (4x4) ornaments. Hoping they will dry quickly as they are for a Christmas gift!!

Today I worked on the new challenge for 'Different Strokes from Different Folks'. Karin challenged everyone to go a little outside their comfort zone. I did so by painting this piece a lot larger than I normally paint. This is 16" x 20" versus my usual 5"x 5" or so. I used a one inch brush in an effort to keep things loose. I also worked on a smooth board that I don't care for. I really like the Ampersand boards with a texture to them. Having said all that... here it is.

And now I will be in NYC for the weekend to visit my daughter... A FABULOUS early Christmas present from my darling husband! I am hoping to come back with lots of reference photos that will keep me painting through spring. :) Have a great weekend!

Today went to the dogs.. literally! With Christmas in mind, I painted a 'portrait' of my father-in-laws dog, Miles. I'm not thrilled with it but I have a few more weeks until Christmas to try again. Then I spied our smallest dog, Bruce, an insane little Yorkie looking out the front door with his brand new haircut and snapped a picture. I am much happier with the way this painting came out.

Yesterday I had company in my studio! It was great fun to have my sister, who is a fabulous jewelry artist and visiting from Colorado, and my son, Ty hanging with me in the studio! We all had a great time being creative! I painted a scene of the sun setting at Central Park in New York, and a picture of the beautiful blue winter sky we had here yesterday morning. I also managed to get another ornament done! All in all, a great day!